PS 

3557 

l87lS 

H*J, LIFE'S OVERTONES 




CORAL FRANCES SCOTT 




Class JS^JLLlf. 
BookiJi^L S 
Gopigkt^N _JJ_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



LIFE'S 
OVERTONES 

BY 
CORAL FRANCES SCOTT 




19 2 1 

THE STRATFORD COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS 






Copyright 1921 

The STRATFORD CO., Publishers 

Boston, Mass. 



The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



MR 121921 
©CI.A611090 






0> 



TO 



'Co my father and mother 
Robert M. and Sarah Kinnear Scott 



Contents 








Prelude 1 


Song 












2 


Indian Summer 












4 


Alone 












5 


The Elemental 












7 


Personality 












8 


Nature's Mistakes 












9 


Estrangement 












12 


Love 












13 


Clay . . 












14 


September 












15 


Clouds . 












16 


Dark Hours . 












17 


Magic 












18 


My Brother . 












19 


Ghosts 












20 


Parting . 


> 










. 23 


Obedience 












24 


A Wedding Ring 












25 


A Nightmare . 












26 


Revolution 










30 


Grace 












32 



CONTENTS 

Bachelors 33 

Daisy 35 

Liberty 36 

Joy 38 

Spring 39 



Prelude 

WHAT is creation but desire 
To quicken sense to something higher 
To catch the ecstasy of the lark, 
Or feel the breath which fans the spark, 
And kindles fury in the mob : 
To pulsate in life's joy or sob: 
Then filter into other hearts, 
Thru sounds known but to poets' art, 
Life's excess of joy or smart. 
What is creation but desire 
To catch life 's overtones of fire, 
And cause to vibrate even higher. 



N 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Song 

Mocking-bird, you force your passion 
On the world in human fashion: 
Joy and praise are your delight, 
Which you follow day and night ; 
Even some very little thing, 
Ecstasy enough will bring 
To your heart to make you sing ; 
And if love does fill your breast, 
As at mating time in spring, 
Your notes into torrents press, 
Of sweet liquid sound's surplus, 
Till the stream from out your throat, 
Us to fairy land does float ; 
You pour rapture o'er our heads, 
Till your eyes are ours instead, 
And our world is gianted; 
Then the trees grow very tall, 
And our little home, a hall, 
"While we seem to become small 
At the wonder of it all; 
Then the flowers take on faces, 
Leaves and ferns become their laces, 

[2] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

Which the dew-gems catch in places ; 
Then the perfumes on the air, 
Cloy the very atmosphere, 
Till a burdened sense we bear; 

And our hearts become oppressed 
With earth's glory, in excess, 
Till it seems we must express 
In some way, her loveliness ; 
Thus our hearts have caught the spark, 
Which does animate the lark, 
And your self in light or dark. 



[3] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Indian Summer 

AUTUMN'S fair voluptuous form 
Glimpses here and glimpses there ; 
Now a crimson cheek a showing, 
Now a strand of golden hair ; 

Now a marble breast appeareth 
Veiled in gauze of amethyst, 
While her merry brown eyes twinkle 
Thru a deeper purple mist; 

Oft her scarlet lips touch fondly 
The thin veil which us divide, 
But as we would seize her boldly, 
Into deeper mist they glide. 

Do we ever catch this coquette 
In full sight, and hold her there? 
Yes, sometimes in late October, 
We approach her spirit's lair; 

See her stand in radiant splendor 
Kissing fingers to the sun, 
Only a rich haze of yellow 
Round her beauteous shoulders flung. 

[4] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Alone 

AGAINST a pearl horizon, a long low ridge 
of green, 
I 'd thot it hills of even height, except that I had 

seen 
Beneath the one star in the West, a mighty pine 

tree toss his crest, 
As tho his soul in deep desire, would meet one 
downward gleam of fire. 

Against a gold horizon, a long low ridge of white, 
I'd thot a single mountain, except that to the 

right, 
One lofty peak pierced far above, and lost from 

mortal sight, 
His stately head first entered into the realm of 

night. 

Against a red horizon, a long low line of gray, 
I'd thot a chain of cringing slaves, except that 

middleway 
Adown this wall of shadows, one lordly head 

flung high, 
And lifted eyes with dauntless gaze against the 

lurid sky. 

[s] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Sometimes in range of nature, sometimes in 

range of men, 
These high peaks lift their regal heads above the 

common ken, 
And pierce a solitude on high, a hush, a silence 

in the sky, 
Unbroken by some presence nigh. 



[6] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



The Elemental 

WHAT e 'er my former state might be, 
I know 'twas lived within a wood : 
There is the feel of empathy 
When 'lone in her, a brother hood 
To animal or bird or bee, 
Altho my form I do not see. 

I feel her shade's deep power of stilling 
My heart, loud knocking at my side ; 
I know the sense, to color thrilling, 
Where safest rest for me abides ; 
I catch her breath, to me revealing, 
Where lurking dangers round me hide, 
And hear her call to crouch still closer, 
Or as inanimate to bide. 

What e'er my former state might be, 
I know my home was near a tree : 
At night I feel her rocking me 
While murmuring low a lullaby ; 
And if I ope' my eyesl see 
Her branches swaying ceaselessly. 

[7] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Personality 
To J. D. 

I THANK you for being you. 
I love to read your verses thru, 
Follow your thot and fancies too, 
But, more than that, there comes to view 
The ego-hood, the thee of you. 
There is a strength of manhood there, 
A steadfastness of beauty rare, 
A holy breath which I can share. 
It creeps between the lines to me, 
Subliminal self you may not see 
Nor know in your own poetry. 
Yet over rhyme and rhythm to me, 
Yes over thot and imagery, 
Subtly there comes the you of thee. 



[8] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Nature's Mistakes 

BENEATH the shadow of the stork, 
There lay a girlish head. 
It had always been a willful one, 
Before that she was wed, 
And since, 'twas absolutely right, 
Whatever she had said. 

But now in dream she troubled lay, 

And it was just because 

She could not have her own sweet way, 

And force ev'n nature's law, 

For there the stork stood by the bed, 

Two bundles in his claw. 

The stork, incarnate elements, 
Which in this world oppose 
Our preconceived harmonies 
Of hair and eyes and nose, 
Stood on one foot beside the bed, 
And waited while she chose. 

[9] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

So under corners folded back, 
She peeped and saw two heads, 
The one, a pretty golden hue, 
The other, it was red. 
Not very complicated? No. 
But all has not been said. 

The very source of discontent 

Just in the reason lay, 

That one a pink bow, one a blue, 

The sign of sex displayed. 

'Twas here the weighty problem rose; 

It was so hard to say, 

For the red head wore the bow of blue ; 

Should be the other way. 

Then long she thot the matter thru — 
A red haired girl would never do — 
A red haired boy she wouldn 't rue — 
But round a girl with golden hair, 
Her fondest wishes grew, 
And thus she waited, trying hard, 
For this the stork to sue. 

The stork he is a patient bird, 

A virtue which did win 

The place which in honor holds 

[10] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

Upon one leg so thin; 

But wasting time on hair and bows 

To him did seem a sin, 

And so the gold haired boy is to 

The red haired girl a twin. 



[«] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Estrangement 

<f THIS ours to stand beside the bier 

I Of those whom life have bound in love, 
And shed o'er them sorrow's soft tears, 
Yet feel there strengthens from above, 
Love's cord which bound them to us here. 

"lis ours to stand beside a bier 
Often unseen by other eyes, 
And shed life's bitter bitter tears, 
With no cord reaching to the skies, 
For love's fine cord has broken here. 

The hearts which death divide, but sever; 
Life tries, and knits or parts forever. 



[12] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



w 



Love 

HY do people call thee blind? 
Thou dos't act beyond the mind. 



What of Beauty 's presence rare, 
Spirit gleaming here and there. 
Into that life thou canst bear, 
Which is worthy it to share! 

What of hardship disappears ; 
For love gladly hardship bears. 

What of sex seems course to view, 
Sweetly is explained by you. 

Why do people call thee blind? 
Thou dos't act beyond the mind. 



M 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Clay 

THE sculptor molds the clay with loving 
care, 
His fingers press therein an image rare, 
Like child of Zeus, conceived within his brain, 
He also brings to birth thru mother's pain, 
And when eternalized in marble firm, 
Resolves the mold of clay to clay again. 

So love eternal forms the living soul : 
By love called here do human faces come ; 
And when the sculptor, thru the heart strings, 

molds 
The face unto his image, life is told, 
And earth resolves itself to earth again. 



[14] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



September 

SUMMER glides with wistful eyes 
Looking o'er her shoulder; 
Refuge finding from north winds, 
At each ridge or boulder. 

Summer steals with lowered head, 
O'er each field and fallow; 
Trailing her green nuptial gown, 
Now a greenish yellow. 

Summer walks with lagging steps, 
As her pale hands loosen 
Golden-rod, her last fond gift, 
Wth her Brown-eyed Susans. 

Summer sighs with heaving breast, 
"Ah, the Sun is fickle/' 
Then her cheeks with anger flush, 
And her tears drops trickle. 



t'5] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Clouds 

A WHITE robed Venus floated up on high, 
Into gray arms of Zeus who kissed her 
brow. 
They mingled into unity of pearl, 
And from the one cloud rose a baby girl. 



[»«] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Dark Hours 

IN life's dark hours we turn away, 
And suffer all alone ; 
We cannot bear that our best friends 
Should hear our spirit's moan; 
Some lay their heads on earth 's soft breast, 
While some in God's strong arms find rest. 

These last have passed their darkest hour: 

Dismayed before life's bitter pain, 

In some time past, they've turned to heaven, 

And felt the last cry by Christ given ; 

For even the Son upon the tree, 

Called to his Father piteously, 

"Why hast Thou forsaken me?" 

Yes, these have known life 's darkest hour, 

And passing through its gloom, 

Have found it ever comes before 

The spirit's fullest bloom; 

And now when troubles on them press, 

In God's strong arms may they find rest. 



[17] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Magic 

1WALK this morning through a love-kissed 
world ; 
I 'm gowned in robes of amethyst, flower pearled ; 
My feet tread over courts of emerald 
Beneath an azure canopy unfurled ; 
Cupids and fays, like flowers, kiss leaves be- 
tween, 
And bend low over me their new crowned queen. 

Nor gods nor fairies cast this magic here, 
A man 's brown eyes smiled down and called me 
dear. 



[18] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



My Brother 

OF brothers two I have but one, 
Of sisters one I have ah, none. 
You ask how this strange thing may be ; 
A riddle, yes, but ask not me ; 
I only know, in darkest hour, 
When in life 's way bloomed not one flower, 
When faint, and spent, and all at sea, 
I thought to turn me to the three, 
But one held out his arms to me. 

This riddle, only those may share, 
Who've tried life's dizzy paths alone; 
Who've tried till nothing's left of them, 
Except the will to try again, 
And being dazed at fate so stern, 
Have turned their eyes back home; 
Ah, then if one hand reach to you, 
One pair of arms enfold you true, 
Your brother he would be. 



[19] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Ghosts 

WE look for ghosts in castles 
Or on Ireland 's bogs and fens ; 
In the old world's mellow atmosphere 
They seem like old-time friends. 
Yes, even along the Hudson, 
Or peeping through the blind 
Of a gray Virginia mansion, 
One might expect to find 
A disembodied spirit, 
Seeking those he 'd left behind. 

But on the plains of Kansas 
Where so few shadows lie, 
Would you ever think to see a ghost 
Or to hear a spirit sigh ? 

On a pillow near the window 
Lay my mother's fragile face, 
With dreamy eyes o'erlooking 
The garden's twilight space, 
And suddenly I saw outside 

[20] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

A little cap of lace above a knot of silver curls. 

Did they belong to a young girl, 

And had the pale moon turned them pearl? 

The half-turned face beneath the hair, 

Did it belong to girlhood fair, 

Or bore it marks of woman's care? 

I could not say. 

The light, between the night and day, 
Would make it seem now fair now gray, 
And lost I felt to place the face 
When down she knelt. 

Over a little mound of clay 

Covered with shells, her hands did stray; 

And then I knew her face was gray. 

Then presently I heard a sigh, 
And saw a man's form standing nigh 
In long blue coat and neckcloth high. 
He drew the longing hands away, 
And lifting her, the two did stray 
Adown the cedar's arching way; 
Then back again to bend and sway 
Above that little mound of clay. 

[21] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

So now I know to western plains, 
Departed spirits come again. 
Yes, even to our garden here, 
Does love recall the pioneer. 



[22] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Parting 

THE ivy curtains ceased to stir, beloved, 
The leaves on the trees hushed, sad ; 
When my eyes denied their love for you, 
The grass in gray instead of green was clad. 

I bore that hour for both of us, beloved : 
My eyes told nothing as I looked at you ; 

I saw temptation in your soul, sweetheart, 
And knew that I must hold you true. 

Not that my strength is more than yours, dear 
love, 

When you have learned to bear; 
My clinging fingers were unclasped through life 

From all for whom I care. 



[23] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Obedience 

HOW anxiously as ages o'er man rolled, 
Did men of Plato's blood, 
With ear against the wall of knowledge pressed, 
Listen for sounds of God. 

How far they searched, how high, how low they 
looked 

For that bright gem called Truth. 
How hardly, could they think eternal life; 

But sought the fount of youth. 

How pityingly the father heard the sigh 

Of human kind for life, 
How gracious was the gift which he bestowed 

To end the weary strife. 

The key of knowledge to his Son he gave, 

Obedience was its name. 
Obedient unto death, the Son became, 

Of life, the living flame. 



[24] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



A Wedding Ring 

LITTLE golden circle, 
Clasping round my finger, 
Only bind me to him 

While his love doth linger. 

Never hold him prisoner 
If his heart love better ; 

I could not support you, 
If you were his fetter. 

Little golden circle, 

Ah, so light today, 
My hand could not lift you, 

If he felt you weigh. 



M 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



A Nightmare 

IN palaces innumerable, 
We passed thru monarch 's gilded rooms ; 
Thru castles high on stony crags, 
Thru dungeons' heavy glooms, we walked, 
And saw past centuries' glory, 
The ancient royal world of story. 

No presence of their occupants, 
There left for us a spirit trance; 
No mighty shadow o'er us threw 
The magic of his kingly glance; 
Against no ancient carved chair, 
A crowned head was seen to rest ; 
In halls, or rooms, or corridors, 
No stately shade of queen was past ; 
These stayed entomed discreetly, lest 
They might disturb the tourist pest; 
While all the beauty they could hoard, 
Was viewed from over silken cords. 

Not even on a jousting field, 

Was shade of warring knight revealed, 

[26] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

And thinking royal ghosts immured, 
I turned me to Charlottenburg. 
Here peace reigned over splendors past, 
The sun a mellow radiance cast, 
The half-spent whisper of a breeze, 
Rustled a leaf or stirred the trees, 
And all alone, save for the guide, 
I stepped thru royal portal wide, 
Above the spot, in picture fair, 
Where Louise, queen of queens, did dare 
To meet Napoleon on the stair. 

Here, too, in rooms of state, I found, 

Museum-like, the treasures bound 

In cabinets or silken ropes, 

And lust of romance gave up hopes. 

Then thru a softly shaded gloom, 

I stepped into a woman's room. 

I saw no queenly figure rare, 

But girlish presence lingered there ; 

It was as tho the open book 

Upon the desk were just laid down; 

The square of lace upon the chair, 

A rare perfume still lingered round; 

Fair needle work was lying by, 

And thru the door, there caught my eye, 

A silken train of azure dye, 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

I even tho-t I heard a sigh, 

But following, saw no one nigh, 

Tho on the lawn 'mongst mighty trees, 

I felt again the faint spent breeze. 

A woodland path curved from the door, 

Beneath the tender brooding gloom 

Of arching boughs, and led my feet, 

As tho reluctant, to a tomb, 

And mounting steps of marble white, 

I passed into a weird light. 

It seemed that here the bright blue sky, 

In passing thru a window high, 

Had stooped o'er this still place to weep, 

And cast blue pallor o'er the sleep 

Of a fair form, like marble maid, 

On snowy bier, in girlish gown, 

The fold of veil the chin around, 

The hands on pulseless bosom pressed, 

'Twas here I found the queen at rest. 

On raised dais cold she lay, 
Bathed in a light not of earth seen, 
And 'twixt me and the sleeping form, 
Stood other form of awful mien ; 
Tho mighty wings above were poised, 
He rested firm at dais' edge; 

[28] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

His regal head was helmeted ; 
No eyes beneath the forehead's ledge, 
But eyeless sockets glowed instead; 
With threatening sword he held the right 
Of heaven to guard the royal dead, 
And lost to time and sense I stood : 
My soul suspended at that sight; 
My soul suspended in that light; 
Caught in death's peace, 
Lost in heaven's might. 

Then without sound along the wall, 

A dark form moved, and caught in thrall 

Of awful horror, cold I grew, 

And felt death's presence strike me thru. 

I could not move, in vain I tried 

To call, to breathe, as to my side 

Came the black form in soft slow glide; 

Ah, I was near myself beside, 

When to my mind the thot applied, 

That I had started with a guide. 



[«] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Revolution 

PATIENT bore men thru the ages, 
The injustices of might; 
Sullen under lash of master, 
Surly rising with the light, 
Dogged bearing the day's burdens, 
Weary back to bed at night, 
This for their, and for their children's 
Meagre bite. 

Knowing only sweat and soil, 
Brain clogged with the heavy toil, 
Patient went men thru the ages, 
Plodding in life 's weary moil. 

But tho plodding thru the ages, 
Mankind scarcely seemed to move 
Upward toward his goal of freedom, 
Yet there was a stir or shove, 
Cumulative despair and longing 
Built a force that surged above. 

[30] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

Patient, weary, surly, dogged, 
Force incarnate of their life ; 
Patient, dogged, surly, weary, 
Daring now to think of strife ; 
Patient, weary, dogged, surly, 
Now the air with wrongs is rife ; 
Weary, surly, dogged, patient, 
But at last man fights for life. 



[31] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Grace 

WORD so soft upon the lips, 
Word so subtle to the mind, 
For your rare illusive presence, 
Who an image e'er could find? 

We were conscious of your being, 

In a countenance benign; 
We could hear your voice thrilling 

In a thought's majestic signs; 
Could perceive your form alluring, 

In some noble figure's lines. 

Then propitious heaven stood ready, 
All the stars their favor threw, 

And at last grace takes on substance, 
Is epitomized in you. 



132] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Bachelors 

The Bachelor Man 

HE is merely one who looks on in life : 
His interest is not vital; 
A whimsical gleam sometimes plays in his eyes, 
And his smile is generally idle ; 
He is dubbed by the men 'mong his friends, 

blase, 
While the women call him a cynic ; 
He lives in bachelor quarters gay 
Which would never do for a finic ; 
And nobody knows he gives nickels and dimes 
To all the poor little children he finds 
When nobody's round; and to none it would 

seem 
That the eyes of a child could make him dream. 

The Bachelor Maid 

SHE is merely one who looks on in life : 
Her interest is not vital; 
A questioning look sometimes gleams in her 
eyes, 

[33] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

And the smiles on her lips are surprised by a 

sigh; 
The women she knows have dubbed her passe, 
The men have thought her cold ; 
To enter her tiny apartments gay, 
There's never a man so bold; 
And nobody knows she gives candy and dolls 
To poor little children where she calls; 
And none would believe, to see her proud eye, 
That a visit to a toy shop makes her cry. 



[34] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



A 



Daisy 

FTER all 's been sung of you, 
Why do I sing of you, too ? 



Little flower, not you I sing, 

But the shadows which you bring : 

Those who walked some other spring, 
And looked into your childish eye 
For knowledge, hope, or sympathy. 

"Why you, more than other flowers, 
Occupy the poets' hours? 

Is it, when to tell life's secrets, 
Is denied the poet's art, 
You, simplest flower, may filter them 
From your heart thru his heart? 



[35] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Liberty 

AMERICA, thy children came to thee 
Drunk with the dream of liberty. 
Liberty for themselves, 'tis true 
That was the first and narrow view; 
But when their children's children dreamed, 
The word in brighter letters gleamed, 
And freedom fcr men of other kind 
Possessed that generation's mind. 

America, thy ego-hood 
Is written in thy children's blood. 
On a white page, each generation 
Has written this, thy first white passion, 
Thy first concept of nation-hood, 
Freedom as the one great good, 
And signed it in its own red blood. 

Then to thy sons of this fair time, 

The dream appeared still more sublime, 

Freedom for men of every clime ; 

And in their blood our men have signed 

[36] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 

On our fair page, the nation's mind, 
Liberty for all mankind. 

Then since the price has now been paid 
For this great good above all good, 
Shalt thou allow a selfish lust 
To nullify thy nation's trust, 
Thy love of freedom never lost? 

Ah, let this struggle at thy heart, 
For self and selfish ends depart, 
Thy first great passion will return, 
And if this thou cans 't not discern, 
A greater price thou yet shalt pay 
For thy great love of liberty. 



[37] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Joy 

MOST of life's joys are forced, 
And thus is lost joy's power. 
'Tis given to joy's connoisseurs 
To know the radiant hour. 

So eager are the most 
To catch her as she flies, 
They only seize her shadow fair, 
Then think that dead she lies. 

But some intuit and wait 

The fullness of the time, 

"When joy herself, and not her shade, 

Shall fill the hour sublime. 

To such rare souls, bright joy 
Would not bright joy be, 
If ought of dross or earth corrupt, 
Their seeing eyes could see. 



[38] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Spring 

LIKE soundless step of savage in the wood, 
There comes the first impulse of wakening 
Spring : 
No sense reveals a footfall on the mold, 
Which, yet, a feel of presence round me flings. 

This comes before the snow-drop's fragile grace 
Steps forth to stare old winter in the face ; 
This comes before the willow mothers say, 
' ' Put on fur mittens if you go to play. ' ' 

My eyes have not yet seen those signs of Spring, 
But suddenly my heart commenced to sing, 
It felt the impulse of the embryo year, 
And shouts before glad nature, " Spring is 
here." 



[39] 



LIFE'S OVERTONES 



Life's overtones are faint or clear, 
According to the listener's ear; 
Sometimes a heart breaks very near, 
Yet, having ears, we do not hear. 



[40] 




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